Hong Kong Disneyland Resort has turned a profit for the first time in nine years, while the number of the park’s visitors has soared by over a million, according to a lawmaker.
Lawmaker Michael Tien said in a Facebook post on Sunday that he had met with the park’s management recently to understand Hong Kong Disneyland’s operations during the 2023-24 financial year.
The park has “again achieved glory,” he wrote, adding that “it was definitely a record-breaking year.”
The last time Hong Kong Disneyland Resort earned a profit was in the 2013-14 financial year, Tien said, when it made around HK$330 million. The lawmaker said its total profit in the 2023-24 financial year was “more than double” that amount.
He also said the park’s revenue in the financial year between October 2023 and September 2024 was 50 per cent more than the revenue in the previous financial year.
“When I spoke to them recently, they said they do not need to request funding from the Legislative Council for the time being, that they have enough confidence that they would be able to develop new things and invest in expanding!” Tien wrote in Chinese.
Founded in 2005, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort is a joint venture between the Hong Kong government and the US-based Walt Disney Company. The government owns 52 per cent of the park, while Disney owns 48 per cent.
The park also has three themed hotels: Disney Explorers Lodge, Disney’s Hollywood Hotel and Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel.
See also: Disneyland to receive HK$5.8 billion in gov’t funds to expand park
According to a Legislative Council paper with data on the park’s earnings from 2008 onward, the only time the park previously earned a profit was in the three consecutive financial years between 2011 and 2014.
It suffered its biggest loss in the 2019 to 2020 financial year amid the anti-extradition protests and unrest, and the Covid-19 pandemic.
During the 2022-23 financial year, when Hong Kong was still under pandemic restrictions, the park recorded a net loss of HK$356 million – though the figure marked an 83 per cent improvement compared with the year before, according to the park’s annual business review.
The park said in its review that revenue grew by 156 per cent that year, and that attendance, per capita spending, and hotel occupancy rate had all risen.
“The recovery momentum is expected to sustain with the opening of the world’s first and largest Frozen-themed land, World of Frozen, in November 2023,” the park wrote, referring to the new attraction inspired by the hit movie.
In his Facebook post on Sunday, Tien said visitor numbers in the 2023-24 financial year was up by over 1 million. The increase was led by mainland Chinese tourists followed by Southeast Asian tourists, he said, while the number of Hong Kong visitors had fallen significantly.
Hong Kong Disneyland Resort is set to reveal its annual financial performance on Tuesday, local media reported.
